Will feds bust state officials over pot laws, senator asks

A U.S. Senate committee will hold a hearing early in the new year to ask the Obama Administration how it will handle new Washington and Colorado laws that legalize possession of marijuana, in light of the continued ban on cannabis in the federal Controlled Substances Act.

“What assurance can and will the administration give to state officials involved in the licensing of marijuana retailers that they will not face federal criminal penalties for carrying out duties assigned to them under state law,” Leahy asked Kerlikowske.

Initiative 502, passed by Washington voters, legalizes and puts under state regulation the growing, sale and private use of marijuana by adults over 21. Under federal law, however, pot remains a Schedule 1 law, classified right alongside heroin and LSD. Cocaine and meth are in a lesser category.

- Pat Robertson: Many people found themselves oddly cheering for the longtime conservative televangelist, after he lectured on the need to soften marijuana laws. But he also said the tornadoes that devastated the Midwest in March could have been prevented if enough people had prayed. less

- Pat Robertson: Many people found themselves oddly cheering for the longtime conservative televangelist, after he lectured on the need to soften marijuana laws. But he also said the tornadoes that devastated ... more

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– Bill Clinton: The future 41st president was dogged on the 1992 campaign trail with questions about whether he ever used drugs. He was cornered on one TV program, and delivered a response that late night comics would love: “When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t inhale and never tried it again.” less

– Bill Clinton: The future 41st president was dogged on the 1992 campaign trail with questions about whether he ever used drugs. He was cornered on one TV program, and delivered a response that late night ... more

Photo: PETR DAVID JOSEK / AFP/Getty Images

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– Arnold Schwarzenegger: The "Governator" of California signed legislation downgrading possession of an ounce or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction – maximum fine, $100, and no jail time. When a film surfaced of Schwarzenegger smoking the forbidden weed, he quipped: "Marijuana is not a drug. It’s a leaf." less

– Arnold Schwarzenegger: The "Governator" of California signed legislation downgrading possession of an ounce or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction – maximum fine, $100, and no jail ... more

Photo: Martin Schalk / Getty Images

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– Ron Paul: The libertarian Texas Republican pronounces the drug war "a failure," says it is destabilizing the Mexican border and undermining civil liberties. He teamed with liberal Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank to sponsor legislation that would allow states to license and regulate sales of marijuana, and charges taxes on commercial sale of cannabis. less

– Ron Paul: The libertarian Texas Republican pronounces the drug war "a failure," says it is destabilizing the Mexican border and undermining civil liberties. He teamed with liberal Massachusetts Democrat ... more

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– William F. Buckley, Jr.: The conservative columnist and TV host wrote about trying marijuana, although insisting that he first sailed out into the Atlantic beyond local legal jurisdiction. WFB was an outspoken advocate of decriminalization, saying: "Even if one takes every 'Reefer Madness' allegation of the prohibitionist at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could." less

– William F. Buckley, Jr.: The conservative columnist and TV host wrote about trying marijuana, although insisting that he first sailed out into the Atlantic beyond local legal jurisdiction. WFB was an ... more

Photo: Getty Images

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– Sen. Eugene McCarthy: The Minnesota senator who challenged President Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War had a way of putting it on the line without raising his voice. McCarthy got away with saying he would fire FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Asked what he would do about marijuana, he told an audience in conservative Indiana: "I’d put a warning on the package." less

– Sen. Eugene McCarthy: The Minnesota senator who challenged President Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War had a way of putting it on the line without raising his voice. McCarthy got away with saying he ... more

Photo: Getty Images

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– Barry Goldwater: The former Arizona senator and father of modern conservatism, defying his state’s right wingers, came out in support of a medical marijuana initiative that was passed by Arizona voters in 1996. Goldwater liked to tell a story on himself. He arrived home early from Washington, D.C., and caught a nephew smoking dope in his Phoenix living room. The nephew’s rejoinder to reprimand was that he’d seen "Uncle Barry" drinking and under the influence in that very room. less

– Barry Goldwater: The former Arizona senator and father of modern conservatism, defying his state’s right wingers, came out in support of a medical marijuana initiative that was passed by Arizona voters ... more

Photo: Getty Images

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– Barack Obama: The future 44th President, in his high school yearbook, had a portrait in a white leisure suit but also a still-life photo of a beer bottle and Zig-Zag cigarette papers. The caption carried Obama’s thanks to "Tut and Gramps" but also the "Choom Gang." "Chooming" is Hawaiian slang for smoking dope. "I inhaled frequently," Obama confessed years later. less

– Barack Obama: The future 44th President, in his high school yearbook, had a portrait in a white leisure suit but also a still-life photo of a beer bottle and Zig-Zag cigarette papers. The caption carried ... more

Photo: Getty Images

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– Al Gore: In making his first presidential run in 1988, the politician then known as Albert Gore, Jr., acknowledged smoking marijuana. A seething, uptight Gore spent a Des Moines news conference answering questions from fellow members of the Baby Boom generation on when and how long he and Tipper had been lighting up. ‘Turns out for most of the early 1970’s, stopping only when Gore ran for Congress in 1976. less

– Al Gore: In making his first presidential run in 1988, the politician then known as Albert Gore, Jr., acknowledged smoking marijuana. A seething, uptight Gore spent a Des Moines news conference answering ... more

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

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– John Kerry: An old friend, "Peter Paul & Mary" signer Peter Yarrow, showed up to serenade Iowa caucus goers at a 2004 Kerry town meeting. He struck up "Puff the Magic Dragon." Kerry made a gesture of lifting fingers to his lips and taking a puff. The right-wing FreeRepublic.com web site erupted in anger, but the episode produced little controversy. less

– John Kerry: An old friend, "Peter Paul & Mary" signer Peter Yarrow, showed up to serenade Iowa caucus goers at a 2004 Kerry town meeting. He struck up "Puff the Magic Dragon." Kerry made a gesture of ... more

Photo: Elsa / Getty Images

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– Ann Richards: The Republicans were out to nail the "Austin liberal" running for governor of Texas, and planted a question about what drugs Richards had used in the past. She flatly refused to answer, saying that people would be less inclined to stop using drugs if they knew someday they’d be forced into a public confession. Richards won, but lost her reelection bid to George W. Bush – who flatly refused to discuss the subject. less

– Ann Richards: The Republicans were out to nail the "Austin liberal" running for governor of Texas, and planted a question about what drugs Richards had used in the past. She flatly refused to answer, ... more

Photo: Getty Images

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– Christine Todd Whitman: The patrician Republican governor of New Jersey, and later Environmental Protection Agency administrator, let it hang out when relating her experience with cannabis: "I turned on, I tuned in and I threw up." The ex-governor’s brother Webster Todd is partners in Compassion Sciences, a supplier of medical marijuana. less

– Christine Todd Whitman: The patrician Republican governor of New Jersey, and later Environmental Protection Agency administrator, let it hang out when relating her experience with cannabis: "I turned on, ... more

Photo: Mark Wilson / Getty Images

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– George Shultz: The former Bechtel executive and President Reagan’s long-serving Secretary of State used a Wall Street Journal piece to argue: "We need at least to consider and examine forms of controlled legalization of drugs." The establishment mandarin raised eyebrows, speaking at a luncheon before a Stanford-Notre Dame football game, when he called for legalization of marijuana. less

– George Shultz: The former Bechtel executive and President Reagan’s long-serving Secretary of State used a Wall Street Journal piece to argue: "We need at least to consider and examine forms of ... more

Photo: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

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Will feds bust state officials over pot laws, senator asks

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The U.S. Justice Department said last week that it is studying the Washington and Colorado laws, but reminded people that possessing marijuana still violates the Controlled Substances Act. It also said marijuana is legal on all federal properties, from national parks and forests to federal buildings.

“Legislative options exist to resolve the differences between federal and state law in this area, and end the uncertainty that residents of Colorado and Washington now face,” Leahy wrote. “One option would be to amend the federal Controlled Substances Act to allow possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, at least in jurisdictions where it is legal under state law.”

Gov. Chris Gregoire and Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island have asked the Obama administration to review the Schedule 1 classification of marijuana, a drug that has been used or at least sampled by as many as 100 million Americans.